Actuating mechanism of piano-players.



E. T. TURNEY.

ACTUATING MECHANISM OF PIANO PLAYERS.

APPLICATION man 02c. 26. 1913.

1,169,442, Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

WITNESSES ANOGRAPH c0, WASHINGTON, D. c

E. T. TURNEY.

ACTUATING MECHANISM OF PIANO PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.26. 191 3.

E 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. m F 1' I m n F' .2; W B A I. I I0 I I WITNESSES INVENTOH X, l BY ATTORNEY THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0,, WASHINGTON n c Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Bosnian 'r. runner, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN PLAYER ACTION COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF weer-VIRGINIA.

AOTUATING MECHANISM OF PLANO-PLAYERS.

7 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE T. TnnNnY,

mechanism of this sort which works with good power and speed, which is very compact so as to go into acomparatlvely small case and which is readily accessible for adjustment or repair.

In a prior application, No. 655,076 filed Oct. 16, 1911 I have described a compact arrangement of wind chests with pneumatics arranged vertically at the backs of thechests and having arms projecting at an angle from near the hinged end of the movable member of each pneumatic so as to secure aconstruction of slight depth from front to back. j

The present construction is an improvement thereon in which the pneumatics have their broader upper ends inclined forward,

which permits the bringing of the pneumatics closer to the stickers or similar parts of the piano action and which permits the shortening of the arms carried by the movable members of the pneumatics so that the depth of the construction from front to back is even less than in the previous design and so that more power is secured.

-Other points of advantage are referred to hereinafter.

j The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical ,SGCtlOIlEll view through the wind chests and adjacent parts; Fig. '2 is a similar view of a slightly modified construction.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the wind chests A extend entirely across the front of the piano action in front of the vertical stickers B which transmit the upward movements of'the rear ends of the keys C to the wippensD which operate the hammers. The several wind chests A are in communication with each other at Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

Application filed December 28, 1913. Serial NO. 808,823.

their ends and are in communication with the pumper by which a partial vacuum is maintained in said chests. At the backs'of thewind chests arelocated the bellows or pneumatics E, F, those in one row being staggered relatively to those in the next row so as to bring the center of each pneumatic in line with one of the stickers B or equivalent devices for transmitting the movement of the pneumatic to the hammer. For each pneumatic there is a set of valves G and H which open communication from the atmosphere or from the wind chest A respectively to the passage J leading to the pneumatic; each set of valves being controlled by a diaphragm K, the upper side of which is exposedwithin the wind chest and the lower side of which is exposed to a passage L which communicates through suitable tubing with one of the openings in the tracker board. The passage'L also COUT- municates through a bleed hole M with the wind chest. Thus when an opening in the tracker board registers with an opening in the note sheet air is admitted to the passage L, the diaphragm K is moved upward carry ing with it the stem N of the valves G and H and shutting off communication with the atmosphere and opening communication of the pneumatic with the wind chest so as to collapse the pneumatic. When the opening in thetracker board is covered there is a gradualrestoration of the balancev on oppositesides of the diaphragm K, by the passage of air through the bleed hole M and the valves are lowered and the pneumatic expanded to its. position of rest.

The pneumatics are arranged in upright positions at the backs of the wind chests so as to economize space in a transverse direction and are provided each with an arm 0 attached at an angle to the movable mem ber F near the hinge end of the pneumatic,

the sticker or equivalent part of the action being operated by the upward movement of:

' free end Ofthe movablemember F inclines to the rear of a vertical line through the hinge when the pneumatic is expanded and to the front of said line when the pneumatic is collapsed (as shown in dotted lines). This position of the movable member F of the pneumatic permits of the bringing of the action comparatively close to the pneumatics and wind chests and permits the use of comparatively short arms 0 with a correspondingly powerful stroke, these arms be ing in fact substantially shorter than the length of the movable members F of the bellows, so that the arms move with a shorter and more powerful stroke than that of the members F. The stroke of the pneumatic is, of course, made great enough to produce the desired extent of vertical motion of the arms 0 and the ports are made large enough to secure a quick stroke. The collapsing stroke of the pneumatics is limited by the striking of a. pad P against the end of a screw Q passing through the fixed member E of the pneumatic and accessible from the front to permit adjustment by a long bladed screw driver.

The arm 0 is preferably adjustable angularly, being pivoted on the block R near the hinged end of the movable member of the pneumatic, through which block passes an adjusting screw S, the end of which bears against a lug T on the arm and the head of which lies between successive wind chests and is accessible from the front by a long bladed screw driver. The arms 0 of the first and second tiers of pneumatics are connected by links U with the rear portions of levers V pivotally connected to a block or rail \V on the underside of the lowermost wind chest, the forward end of each lever V extending under a forward projection X on the corresponding sticker B. It will be understood that each of the stickers 1w has a projection X, these projections being in line with each other along the entire row of stickers. The lowermost tier of pneumatics has an arm 0 attached to the movable member of each of the pneumatics and similar in every respect to the arms 0 except that it is long enough to extend under the forward projection X of the corresponding sticker. This construction, with one tier of pneumatics having arms 0' which act directly upon the stick ers and with the other. tiers of pneumatics having arms 0 which act indirectly on the stickers is especially adapted for pianos in which the actions are very short inthe vertical dimension. \Vhere, however, the stickers can be made long enough, as in Fig. 2, to extend past three tiers of pneumatics the stickers B of one set will be operated directly by arms 0 of the lowermost pneumatics, the stickers B of the next set will be operated directly by identical arms 0' on the next tier of pneumatics and the stickers B of the third set will likewise be operated by arms O of the highest tier of pneumatics.

Though I have described with great particularlity of detail certain specific embodiments of my invention yet it is not to be understood therefrom that the invention is restricted to the particular embodiments disclosed. Various modifications thereof in detail and in the arrangement and combination of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the invention.

W hat I claim is 1. In combination a wind chest, pneumatics mounted in upright position on the back of said wind chest and arms attached at approximately or substantially a right angle to the movable members of the pneumatics near the hinged end thereof, the fixed members of the pneumatics having their ends opposite the hinges inclined forwardly so as to permit the shortening of said arms and the bringing of the pneumatics close to the piano action whereby to secure compactness and a powerful stroke.

2. In combination a wind chest and a set of pneumaties mounted at the back of said wind chest in approximately upright positions with the fixed members of the pneumatics projecting forwardly and the movable members positioned to swing to the front and rear of a vertical position as the pneumatics are collapsed and expanded, and arms attached to said movable members near the hinged end thereof and extending therefrom at approximately or substantially a right angle so as to swing above and below a horizontal position as the pneumatic-s are collapsed and expanded.

3. In combination a wind chest and a set of pneumatics mounted at the back of said wind chest, the movable members of the pneumatics being positioned so as to swing to the front and rear of a vertical position as the pneumatics are collapsed and expanded, and arms attached to said movable members near the hinged end thereof and extending therefrom at approximately or substantially a right angle so as to swing above and below a horizontal position as the pneumatics are collapsed and expanded.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the prcscence of two subscribing witnesses.

EUGENE T. TURNEY.

lVitnesses D. .ANTHONY Usnva, LUL'U STUBENvoLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner (-1 latcnts. Washington, D. C. 

